As is the case every year, Newcomer@GTS got together again this spring, destination: Willich, not far from Düsseldorf, host company: DURUM Verschleiss-Schutz GmbH. Once again, a big thank-you to Peter Knauf and Dr. Frank Schreiber for their hospitality and the excellent organization!

The DURUM Team made sure the get-together was an all-round success. Many thanks from Newcomer@GTS.		Dr. Schreiber reported on the potential and manufacture of cored wire for arc spraying.

The get-together was "rung in" by dinner in a cosy hotel atmosphere on Sunday evening. The next morning, the program then began with a brief welcome by the CEO of DURUM Verschleiss-Schutz GmbH, Peter Knauf, who also presented the history and development of the company. The rest of the session was then in the hands of Dr. Frank Schreiber, who also gave us a very interesting report on arc spraying with cored wire. His presentation included the different ways of manufacturing cored wire, as well as the pros and cons of the various manufacturing methods. As DURUM is not only a coating business (in particular for PTA and welding processes), but also a wire and powder supplier, we all gained a deeper and clearer insight into the technical differences between the materials and manufacturing processes.

The many participants were later divided into two groups for the more practical part of the get-together. The first group was led by Peter Knauf who explained the manufacture of wire, powder and welding anodes, and showed us the actual production, too. DURUM is a medium-sized enterprise and therefore very flexible. Customer-specific changes to the composition of powder and wire can be implemented in a very short time. In-process quality assurance facilitates a rapid response to any production irregularities which may occur. Of particular interest was the manufacturing method for cored wire previously mentioned in Dr. Schreiber’s report DURUM GmbH produces this wire on machines it has designed and built itself, and in a very high quality.

The second group, led by Dr. Schreiber, had the chance to see PTA welding and wire welding to produce thick layers against abrasive wear. The group was also shown the burners which DURUM has developed itself for coating and simultaneous fusing with self-fluxing alloys. A special feature of the burner is that it was designed for larger surfaces and can achieve a corresponding powder throughput. The burner was mounted on a positioning unit, also built by DURUM, which is able to coat and fuse extensive flat components (e.g. rails, plates, etc.) in one pass.

After the guided tours, all the participants returned to the company meeting room to discuss internal and organizational issues. Before heading home, we agreed on a tentative date for the next get-together in March 2010. It is scheduled to take place at SLV, but the exact venue, Munich or Duisburg, still has to be decided.